1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery module. More particularly, the present invention relates to a battery module in which a configuration of barrier ribs mounted between batteries is improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike a primary battery that is incapable of being recharged, a rechargeable battery may be repeatedly charged and discharged.
Rechargeable batteries are manufactured in various shapes, for example, a cylindrical shape or a prismatic shape.
Recently, high power secondary batteries using a non-aqueous electrolyte having a high energy density have been developed. A battery module is formed by coupling a plurality of high output secondary batteries (hereinafter, referred to as a “unit battery”) in series so that the battery module will be able to drive a motor for an apparatus requiring high power (e.g., an electric vehicle).
When the unit battery is formed in a rectangular shape, the unit battery is typically constructed with a group of electrodes having anodes and cathodes, a case having a space in which the group of electrodes are arranged, a cap plate for closing and sealing the case, and anode and cathode terminals that protrude through the cap plate and are electrically connected to the group of electrodes.
Since the battery module may include several to several tens of unit batteries, the battery module is required to dissipate the heat generated from each unit battery.
Accordingly, contemporary battery modules are constructed with barrier ribs disposed between the unit batteries, to form gaps between the unit batteries in order to enable a coolant (i.e., a heat conductive medium) to flow around the unit batteries, and to support the unit batteries so that the arrangement of the unit batteries may not be changed.
When the battery module is constructed with the conventional barrier ribs, however, the configuration is complicated and a manufacturing cost is problematically increased due to an injection molding process.
Accordingly, it is currently required to provide barrier ribs that may be easily manufactured and assembled while having sufficient stiffness and efficiently for dissipating the heat.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of an understanding of the background of the invention and therefore may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.